Turkish lawmakers passed a bill late Wednesday that includes restricting access to social media for children under the age of 15, state media reported.
The law is the latest in a global trend to protect young people from dangerous online activities.
His move comes a week after a 14-year-old boy killed nine students and a teacher at a middle school in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey, in a gun attack. Police are investigating the online activities of the perpetrator, who also died, in a bid to uncover his motivation for the attack.
The bill would force social media platforms to install age verification systems, provide parental control tools and require companies to respond quickly to content deemed dangerous, state news agency Anadolu said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan must now approve the bill within 15 days for it to be passed into law. He spoke following the Kahramanmaras massacre of the need to reduce online risks to the safety and privacy of children.
“We live in a time where some digital sharing applications are corrupting our children’s minds and social media platforms have, frankly, become dirty,” he said in a televised speech on Monday.
The main opposition party – the Republican People’s Party, or CHP – has criticized the proposal, saying children should be protected “not by bans but by fair-minded policies.”
